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2015-2016 Faculty Research and Development Program - Call for Proposals - Guidelines

Purpose

Cleveland State University is committed to developing and supporting research, scholarly, and creative activities. The Office of Research through the University Research Council is pleased to announce the 2015-2016 Faculty Research and Development (FRD) Program with support made available through a portion of the recovered Facilities & Administrative Costs (indirect costs) and internal funding. The primary goal of the FRD Program is to invest in basic and applied research that would increase the level of federal and industrial research funding received by the University. Priority will be given to faculty with demonstrated external funding portfolio and to new faculty with great potential for external funding. Proposals may request investment toward enhancements of an established program, for new projects through funding for a pilot study, or for establishing or enhancing partnerships, or other activities that significantly advance the University's potential to receive external funding.

Eligibility

Full time tenured or tenure-track graduate faculty1 are eligible to apply for FRD funding. Faculty members on professional leave are also eligible; however, FRD funds cannot be used to augment professional leave salary. Faculty who are currently members of the University Research Council are not eligible. PIs of past FRD awards are eligible to serve as a PI only if it has been three years since the end date of their previous award, an external proposal was submitted based on the prior FRD award, and the results of the prior award were published. A faculty member can participate in only one FRD proposal as a PI or Co-PI.

FRD Award Terms and Conditions

Acceptance of an FRD award signifies the recipient’s intent to continue as a regular faculty member at CSU during the one-year duration of the grant and the faculty member’s obligation to submit a proposal to an external funding agency within 24 months of award inception.

The FRD award period is 12 months from the date of official notification and authorization to expend, and it is fully expected that awardees will conform to the timelines presented in the FRD submission. All unexpended grant funds at the end of the award period will revert to the Office of Research. A one-time no-cost extension of no longer than six months may be approved only in exceptional cases, and must be requested no later than one month prior to the end date of the award.

All required certifications to include, but not exclusive to, Human Participants, Animal Subjects, Hazardous Materials and the like must be provided to SPRS prior to beginning work.

The Office of the Vice President for Research reserves the right to disseminate funded proposals and to publish proposal abstracts. If the proposal contains confidential or proprietary information, the applicant must indicate so on the Cover Page and mark those sections in the proposal. Those sections will not be shared, distributed, or released to the public.

A final report must be sent via e-mail as a pdf-formatted attachment to j.yard@csuohio.edu and d.j.simon@csuohio.eduno later than 60 days after the end date of the FRD award. The report should: (1) include a summary of major findings and copies of all papers or publications resulting from FRD support, and (2) list of sponsors to which a funding request either was submitted or will be in the near future. Any publication resulting from the FRD must carry an acknowledgement that the project was conducted with support from Cleveland State University’s Faculty Research Development Program.

Awards must be expended for the purposes as described in the proposal and in accordance with the proposal budget and applicable University regulations and procedures. If changes in the scope of work or budget are necessary, the Office of Research should be contacted to request prior approval. All equipment purchased with FRD funding becomes the sole property of the University and is assigned to the awardee’s primary department.

Proposal Preparation Guidelines

Abstract - One-page outline of the proposed research suitable for public reports.

Project Description - Summarize, using language that can be understood by non-specialists, your proposed research, scholarly, or creative project, including its significance and its likelihood to attract external funding. Comment on how the proposed project promotes new research directions, scholarly capabilities or creative works, and innovation. Be sure to distinguish between the FRD-seeded research and the eventual project for which you will obtain external funding. Excluding references, the description may be no more than five (5) single-spaced pages with a minimum font size of 12 points on 8 ½" × 11" paper with 1" margins.

Budget and Justification - Not exceeding one (1) page - FRD grant awards are generally between $15,000 and $25,000.

Plan for Obtaining External Funding (Appendix A) - Describe your plan for obtaining external funds, including: a) what funding agency or industry you will approach, and why; b) what contact you have already had with these agencies or industrial partners, if any; c) when you expect to apply for funding; d) the expected scale of the eventual project; and e) how the activities funded by the FRD grant will help to attract further external support. List current or pending grant applications that are related to the project, including funds requested or received from sources both internal and external to Cleveland State University. The maximum length for Appendix A is one (1) single-spaced page.

Listing of External Proposals (Appendix B) - List all external proposals submitted in the past five years and their status (no page limitation).

Certification Letters (Appendix C) - This Appendix should contain certification letters as required by FRD guidelines. For example, if released time is requested, the application must include a letter from the Department Chair, co-signed by the Academic Dean, which describes the teaching load policy in the academic unit, how that policy impacts the applicant, and the replacement costs pertaining to the release-time request.

Curriculum Vitae - For each PI and Co-PI, an abbreviated curriculum vitae (maximum two pages) that includes the most significant journal publications within the last five years only.

Review Process

FRD proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the University Research Council. The AY 2015-16 FRD Evaluation Form that will be used by the University Research Council is provided below. With faculty reviewers from many different fields across the University, the proposal should be written in plain English that is clear and unambiguous so that the proposal is understandable to readers completely outside the discipline. Nonetheless, the intellectual underpinnings of the research should be clear.

Allowable Costs

Allowable expenditures are direct costs normally applied during the conduct of sponsored research, including salaries, consultant fees, equipment, well-justified domestic travel required for the conduct of research, supplies, and other direct costs. The following points should be noted:

Faculty, student, and technician salaries (and associated fringe benefits) may be charged to the FRD Program. Up to one month of faculty summer salary may be requested. If release time for the academic year is requested, the budget must identify the part-time faculty replacement cost (including fringe benefits) and a letter from the Chairperson of the Department, co-signed by the Academic Dean must be submitted. If a graduate research assistant stipend is requested, it will be necessary to provide documentation of other source for tuition/fees.

FRD funds cannot be used for international travel or for developing instructional materials or for supporting work leading to any academic degree for the applicant. Tuition grants and fees are not allowable under the FRD Program.

Timetable

Date

Material(s) Due

March 06, 2015

Proposal submitted to the Dean for review and signature

March 20, 2015

One electronic PDF file of the proposal (with all its components, including cover page with signatures) is due no later than 5:00pm, sent via e-mail as a single pdf-formatted attachment to j.yard@csuohio.edu andd.j.simon@csuohio.edu

April 30, 2015

Recommendation by the University Research Council and approval by the Vice President for Research

Questions concerning the 2015-2016 FRD Program should be addressed to Joy Yard, 687-9364, j.yard@csuohio.edu and Dan Simon, 687-5171,d.j.simon@csuohio.edu. The evaluation form is attached to the end of the PDF version of the guidelines below.